Britain Palestine Project
Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians
Published in The Guardian, 30 Aug 2020 by Oliver Holmes, Jerusalem Correspondent Exclusive: architect leaked plans to Jewish militants leading to raid seen as signifying London’s declining control The family of a decorated British civil servant who built a notorious jail for the empire in Palestine has revealed he leaked the building plans to Jewish…
Question by Baroness Northover (Lib Dem) on 24th September 2020 (HL8468) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made ofreports that the government of Israel is demolishing water, sanitation and hygiene structures used by Palestinians in the West Bank. Answer from Lord Ahmad (Conservative) on 5th October 2020 The UK is concerned by…
Question by Baroness Janke (lib Dem) on 7th February 2022 (HL6030) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to recognise Palestine as an independent state. Answer from Lord Ahmed (Conservative) on 21st February 2022 We continue to work closely with international partners to strongly advocate for a two-state solution and encourage a return…
Question by Baroness Sheehan (Lib Dem) on 21st May 2021 (HL535) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of reductions in the Overseas Development Assistance Budget on donations to organisations bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Answer from Lord Ahmad (Conservative) on 8th June 2021 Allocation decisions have been taken…
Question by Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 18th january 2021 (HL12261) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all Palestinians are able to vote freely in (1) the elections for the legislature on 22 May, and (2) the presidential election on 31 July. Answer from Lord Ahmad (Conservative) on 1st…
Question by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 24th January 2022 (HL5626) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to protect Palestinians in territories occupied by Israel from damage to olive groves and crops by Israeli settlers. Answer from Lord Ahmad (Conservative) on 7th February 2022 We understand the particular significance of olive trees…
Question from Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 6th August 2020 (HL7405) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for providing protection for archaeological artefacts in Palestine to ensure that any such artefacts remain under Palestinian ownership. Answer from Baroness Sugg (Conservative) on 6th August 2020 The UK acknowledges the importance…
Question by Caroline Ansell (Conservative) on 24th May 2022 (UIN8084) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the removal of material reportedly inciting violence and antisemitism and the inclusion of material promoting peace in the PA…
Business and Trade – Oral Questions to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Business and Trade:– Kate Osamor: I understand that the Government are set to undertake a second round of trade negotiations with Israel in the spring. Israel applies our current agreement to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, against the EU negotiator’s original intentions. Have the Government…
Q Asked by Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 14 January 2019 Department for International Development: Gaza: Young People: HL12814 To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Bank’s findings in October 2018 that there is 70 per cent youth unemployment in Gaza; and what discussions they have had with the government…
Question from Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2023 (HL5314) To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of the Israeli blockade of Gaza on people living there; and in particular, what assessment they have made whether the treatment needs for cancer patients in Gaza are being met. Answer…
Question from Andy McDonald (Labour) on 4 July 2022 (UIN 30027) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Israeli counterpart on ending the blockade of Gaza in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009). Answer by Amanda Milling (Conservative) on 7th July…
Question by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 23rd May 2022 (HL422) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the presence of armed Israeli forces at St Joseph’s hospital on 13 May, (2) the actions of the Israeli forces towards attendees of the funeral of Shireen Abu Aqleh, and (3) the…
Question by the Bishop of Southwark on 9th January 2023 (HL4594) To ask His Majesty’s Government what representation they have made to the government of Israel to safeguard and protect religious minorities in that country following the desecration of graves at the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion, Jerusalem. Answer from Lord Ahmad on 26th January…
Question from Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2023 (HL5318) To ask His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel regarding (1) the right of Palestinians living in Israel (a) to hold Israeli citizenship, and (b) to vote in Israeli elections, and (2) statements by the Minister for Internal…
Question by Baroness Sheehan (Lib Dem) on 10th January 2022 (HL5266) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning the treatment of Palestinians and their property during night raids by Israeli forces. Answer from Lord Ahmad (Conservative) on 24th January 2022 While we recognise Israel’s legitimate need…
Question by Baroness Sheehan (Lib Dem) on 23rd May (HL453) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of Israeli forces using a girl as a human shield, and then bombing her home in Jenin, on 13 May. Answer from Lord Ahmad (Conservative) on 7th June…
Question from Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2023 (HL5315) To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the expulsion of Palestinian residents from the Masafer Yatta area of the West Bank; and what discussions they have had with the government of Israel about protecting the rights of those individuals, including…
Question: by Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 10 June 2019 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hebron, (HL16231) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the consequences for Palestinian children in Hebron of the removal of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron by the government of Israel. Answer: by: Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on 24…
Question from Seema Malhotra (Labour) on 8th February 2023 To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the situation in Jenin. Answer by David Rutley (Conservative) on 20th February 2023 The Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, set out on 26…
Question by Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem) on 18th January 2023 (UIN 126759) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Israeli Government over settlement expansion and demolitions of Palestinian homes and other buildings. Answer from David Rutley (Conservative) on 26th January 2023 The UK…
Question by Baroness Janke on 15th June 2022 (HL993) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry report on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, published on 9 May; and in particular, the findings that Israel (1) has “no intention of ending the occupation”, (2) is…
Question by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2022 (HL5843) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they intend to offer, if any, to the COVID-19 vaccination programme for Palestinians in Gaza, given reports of shortages of medical equipment. Answer from Lord Ahmed (Conservative) on 14th February 2022 Tackling COVID-19 remains a priority for…
Question by Rupa Huq Labour, Ealing and central Acton on 28th August 2020 (UIN82211) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has held with his counterparts in other European states on reaching a co-ordinated recognition of the State of Palestine after the end of the transition period.…
Oral Answer on Monday 6th July 2020 1. Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime:– Dominic Raab (Conservative, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs): Mr Speaker, with permission, I would like to make a statement on the global human rights sanctions regulations. As we forge a dynamic new vision…
A talk given online on 30th June 2020. John McHugo is a trustee of the Balfour Project and a board member of CAABU, The Council for Arab British Understanding. This paper is the edited text of a Balfour Project talk he gave on 30 June 2020, and is a development of what he wrote about…
An interview with Banjamin Balthaser, published on Jacobin The roots of modern Zionism are in colonialism. This was the foundation of the Jewish left’s opposition to Zionism in the 1930s and ’40s, on the grounds that it is a form of right-wing nationalism and imperialism that is fundamentally opposed to working-class internationalism. Israeli Prime Minister…
By Robert A. H. Cohen, published on Mondoweiss, 30 July 2020 Progressive rabbis in the UK have written to the Israeli embassy in London to express their concern over the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank. The letter has been sent from British Friends of Rabbis for Human Rights, an organisation…
European MPs have come together to oppose the illegal plan of Israel’s Prime Minister to annex part of the Palestinian West Bank, under Israeli military occupation since 1967. Convened by Stephen Kinnock MP, Co Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Palestine, colleagues from France, Ireland, Belgium and the U.K. agreed to challenge and…
A live online talk given in July 2020 Welcome everyone. Sarah Helm was a staff correspondent for The Sunday Times and a foreign correspondent for The Independent and she’s written two books, most recently, If This is a Woman about the Nazi concentration camp for women. And she has also written a play about the…
By Sam Bahour, The Guardian, 12 July 2020 In January, when the Trump administration formally unveiled its long-awaited peace plan for the Israel-Palestine conflict – known as the “deal of the century” – not a Palestinian was in sight, nor were any invited to the White House press conference. President Trump shared the stage with…
By Alleks Phillips, first published in The Jewish Chronicle, 9 July 2020 Over 40 British rabbis – including former Liberal senior rabbi Danny Rich and outgoing Reform senior rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner – have written to the Israeli embassy in London opposing the government’s annexation policy. Addressing chargé d’affaires Sharon Bar-li, who is Israel’s senior diplomat…
One State? An alternative, authentic Jewish voice By Peter Beinart, Published in on Jewish Currents 7th July 2020. WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A JEW—not just a Jew in name, but a Jew in good standing—today? In Haredi circles, being a real Jew means adhering to religious law. In leftist Jewish spaces, it means championing progressive causes.…
A talk given online in June 2020. Andrew Whitley: My thanks to so many of you for taking the trouble today to attend this online talk from the Balfour Project, I hope you will find it stimulating and thought-provoking. It may be a little confusing at times because we’re going to be jumping between Palestine…
By Andrew Whitley, Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Balfour Project Prime Minister Boris Johnson today published a last-minute appeal to Israel not to proceed with the Netanyahu government’s plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank after the 1st July. The medium used was an Op-Ed in Israel’s biggest circulation…
Washington Report, November 2005, pages 44–50 Special Report by John Cornelius IN THIS article the author relates what he believes to be the true story of how the British government came to issue what has come to be known as the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration took the form of a letter, dated Nov. 2,…